Duke Tops Northwest Missouri State In Exhibition Opener

In 2017 Duke routed Northwest Missouri State 93-60.

This time around that wasn’t the case.

The Blue Devils led by as many 19 with 6:06 to play before the reigning Division II national champions made a late flurry. The Bearcats drained five three-pointers in the final 5:28, trimming the margin to 68-63 with 24 seconds remaining, but clutch free throws from junior Jordan Goldwire and freshman Cassius Stanley allowed Duke to hold off the comeback bid. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-wins-exhibition-opener.aspx

Northwest Missouri State, who was 38-0 last season, finished 15 of 34 from three-point range for the game, with guard Trevor Hudgins leading the way with a game-high 27 points on 7-of-13 from long range. Ryan Hawkins scored 16. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-wins-exhibition-opener.aspx

Jones was 6-of-15 from the floor and finished with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Duke forced the visitors in 21 turnovers and racked up 11 steals, including a game-high four from Goldwire. Off the bench, Goldwire scored six points and had two assists in 25 minutes. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-wins-exhibition-opener.aspx

Hurt was 8-of-16 from the field for his 17 points, while senior Jack White pulled down 10 rebounds as Duke owned a 44-34 edge on the glass. led by as many 19 with 6:06 to play before the reigning Division II national champions made a late flurry. The Bearcats drained five three-pointers in the final 5:28, trimming the margin to 68-63 with 24 seconds remaining, but clutch free throws from junior Jordan Goldwire and freshman Cassius Stanley allowed Duke to hold off the comeback bid.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-wins-exhibition-opener.aspx


Jones was 6-of-15 from the floor and finished with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Duke forced the visitors in 21 turnovers and racked up 11 steals, including a game-high four from Goldwire. Off the bench, Goldwire scored six points and had two assists in 25 minutes.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-wins-exhibition-opener.aspx

Hurt was 8-of-16 from the field for his 17 points, while senior Jack White pulled down 10 rebounds as Duke owned a 44-34 edge on the glass. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-wins-exhibition-opener.aspx

While Duke got the win Northwest Missouri State had a setback.

Trailing 58-41 with 5:39 left to play, sophomore guard Trevor Hudgins knocked down a pair of free throws and then hit a three-pointer on the next Northwest possession to give the Bearcats some momentum. Junior forward Ryan Hawkins followed with a steal and layup and then hit a corner three-pointer, forcing Duke to take a timeout with 4:20 left and a 62-49 lead. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-northwest-dazzles-duke-in-exhibition.aspx

Sophomore guard Diego Bernard, who fouled out of the game, scored his only points on a put back off a Hudgins three-point attempt to make it 64-51 with 2:59 left. With the Bearcats picking up their pace, Hudgins made three three-pointers and Hawkins added one to keep things interesting, cutting the Blue Devils' lead to 68-63 with 24 seconds left before Duke added a free throw for the final score. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-northwest-dazzles-duke-in-exhibition.aspx

Hudgins, who was the game's high scorer with 27, got the Bearcats to within four points of the lead when he opened the second half with a layup. Duke led 28-22 at halftime, but the teams tied for points in the second half with 41 apiece. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-northwest-dazzles-duke-in-exhibition.aspx

The Bearcats held two leads in the first half after Duke controlled the opening tip. Hawkins found senior guard Kirk Finley under the basket for a layup one minute and 18 seconds into the contest to give the Bearcats the early 0-2 lead, but Duke tied the score on a steal and fast-break dunk, which started an 11-0 run for the Blue Devils. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-northwest-dazzles-duke-in-exhibition.aspx

After a series of turnovers by both teams, freshman forward Wes Dreamer hit his first shot as a Bearcat, knocking down a three-pointer to make the score 11-8. The teams exchanged layups and senior forward Ryan Welty tied the game at 13 on a second-chance three-pointer at the 9:33 mark in the first half.”according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-northwest-dazzles-duke-in-exhibition.aspx

Duke retook the lead, 15-13, on a layup by Matthew Hurt, and the Bearcats responded with Hudgins hitting a three-pointer with 7:03 in the first half to give Northwest a 15-16 lead. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-northwest-dazzles-duke-in-exhibition.aspx

Northwest shot 44 percent from three-point range, but Duke used its size to its advantage and out-rebounded the 'Cats, 44-34. The Blue Devils also stepped to the free throw line 22 times, while the Bearcats got there just four times. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-northwest-dazzles-duke-in-exhibition.aspx

Hawkins finished with 16 points and Welty had 11 as both played all 40 minutes.”according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/10/26/mens-basketball-northwest-dazzles-duke-in-exhibition.aspx

Duke will finish their exhibition slate on Wednesday with Fort Valley State before opening up the regular season on November 5th at Madison Square Garden against Kansas in the State Farm Champions Classic.